


our waking souls

by displayheartcode



Series: steady as a heartbeat [48]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Female Harry Potter, Ghosts, Male Ginny Weasley, Post-War, Pre-Epilogue, Sad and Happy, Tumblr Prompt, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 16:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30142515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/displayheartcode/pseuds/displayheartcode
Summary: The dead accept the wedding invitation.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Series: steady as a heartbeat [48]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064045
Comments: 11
Kudos: 34





	our waking souls

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from a john donne poem.

In the end, there had been much grumbling from the older crowd – the Great-Aunt Muriels and once-removed cousins Cadors and Uncle Ywains, the ones who had never allowed themselves to feel happy – that the whole affair was strange to them and delightful for the rest. It wasn’t a typical wizarding wedding. A tearful Hagrid had given away the bride; guests wore an eclectic mixture of both worlds (one even in bright yellow) in robes and suits and dresses. There were fireworks after the cake was cut, the dress wasn’t even white, and several scandalous pieces of information the ghosts were enjoying. 

Great-Aunt Muriel sniffed audibly from her table. “She refused to wear my tiara.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Lily said in James's ear. “Just the other month she refused to believe our baby girl is the Chosen One.” 

“Some deluded thing,” James quoted. He placed his translucent brown hand on Muriel’s wine glass. With a grin, he pushed it off the table, splashing white wine over the front of her robes. Muriel shrieked and jumped to her feet. “Did she not read the wedding invitation?” 

Lily snorted. She turned her attention back to the wedding party, catching glimpses of the other ghosts. There were others, of course, a wedding invitation applied to more than just the living. Remus was over with Teddy, trying to help him find his missing shoe as Tonks laughed with her parents. Sirius and one of Molly Weasley’s brothers were taking advantage of their intangibility by badly dancing together in the middle of the crowd. There was Moody happily smoking his pipe by the edge of the party, muttering about safety precautions. Felicity, predictably, was by her twin sister, haunting more noticeably than the rest of the dead by causing small objects to fly around and an ever-present cold spot following her relatives. 

_If only_ , Lily started to think, but she stopped herself. She had consoled herself long ago that she wouldn’t be able to help her daughter on her wedding day. 

And there she was. 

Halley glowed like all things living to the eyes of the dead, a slight halo of gold accentuated by her dress and brilliant smile. She looked so much like James with her warm brown skin and black hair that it was almost like staring into a funhouse mirror of Lily and James’s wedding. Her daughter stood with her best friends, Rory as the Maid of Honor and Hector as the Best Man, all overjoyed in a way that made it look as though they had never experienced any war. 

“I still think she looks more like you,” James said, noticing. His fingers laced through hers. “That smile is all yours, Evans.” 

_My baby,_ Lily’s heart ached. 

“When do you think they’ll make grandparents out of you two?” Sirius asked, appearing suddenly by James’s other side. 

Remus sighed. He had grass stains on his jeans. “We shouldn’t rush them.” His expression softened. “But it would be lovely for Teddy to have more children to play with.” 

Lily dabbed the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. “I’m certain Molly is already knitting tiny jumpers.”   
  
“Imagine the Quidditch gear they have nowadays for babies,” James said, clearly remembering Halley’s first time on a broom. He looked expectantly over at his son-in-law who had walked over to join their daughter. “Oi! You teach that baby how to fly before they know how to walk!” 

Halley’s head snapped up. She stared in their direction, bewildered.

Lily clutched James’s arm. Remus made a choking sound. Sirius's eyes went wide. They knew none of the living could see them, they knew the rules that allowed them to visit the wedding, but there was a glint of something Halley’s green eyes. A question formed on her lips before she shook her head from side-to-side and resumed her conversation with her husband and friends. 

“Do you think…” James asked. His voice was tight. 

“I don’t know,” Lily said. 

There was a murmur about an appointment for a Portkey. Halley reached for Gideon’s hand and gestured to the garden gate. Rory said something about them being eager to escape the rest of the dancing, and Hector assured them that the wedding party would survive the rest of the night without the bride and groom. 

The band changed the music to a slow tempo to signal one last dance. Halley laughed into Gideon’s shoulder about their luck. They went to go say their goodbyes, but Halley looked over at her parents one last time. 

“What is it?” Gideon asked. 

“I don’t know,” she said. 


End file.
